I like my new car. It gets great fuel mileage (almost half again as good as the Foxes.) It is fairly interesting to drive, not just a boring econobox. Nothing zippy, but enough power to drive safely and with a bit of fun. I'm coming to appreciate the comforts, and slowly figuring out how to use the doodads. I just miss feeling like I'm driving. It is more like riding; going A to B, with heated side mirrors of course.
All this power/automatic tech removes you from the road. And I like driving. With a manual transmission you can feel what is going on with the engine, and the tires. You're much more connected to the road. Driving an automatic, who knows or cares what the engine is doing? And what the tires are touching at this exact moment? So, I get a bit disconnected. And more easily distracted- there's just not much to do. Aside from a manual making it hard to text and otherwise do non-driving activities, it just keeps you so much more engaged. And losing even a little awareness of what's going on around you at 70mph is dangerous.
Power steering also takes away from the road feel. I get it, especially on bigger cars: it's hard to turn manual racks at low speed. And I appreciate the power when parallel parking. But for my tasks, it's pretty unnecessary.
Don't get me wrong, I am quickly getting used to the niceties of the new one. Automatics are nice in traffic. The heated seats come in handy in Ohio. But I'm ambivalent about the whole "power everything" setup. Plus I still grab the shifter and press the floor where the clutch pedal would be...
I'm glad to have a new car. Reliable, efficient, user-friendly. But I'm also glad I have an older, simpler, more fun car for the weekends. And I'm still happy I don't have a sunroof- I try to look at planes anyway, but now I can talk to my car-synched phone and ask what planes are overhead... I'd never look down.
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